ESL Writing Exercises: Activities, Worksheets, and Ideas!
We now have several free ESL writing lessons with this page, including sample essays, sentence patterns, writing assignments, and more! If you prefer these lessons, consider buying our ESL writing textbooks to get even more content exactly like this!
Beginner lessons that are writing
Sample Essay: “My Hobby” – Introductory sample essay that students can reference later when writing their own essays
Sentence Pattern: start/stop– that is verb+ing adding “ing” to verbs after “start/stop/quit/begin”
Grammar: Past Tense – Simple introduction to past verbs that are tense
Error Correction Worksheet – Correct the errors in this sample “My Hobby” essay
Assignment: “My Hobby” – Use the grammar and sentence patterns from Unit 1 to publish an essay titled “My Hobby”
Sample Essay: “A Funny Story” – Introductory sample essay that students can reference later when writing their essays that are own
Past Tense Error Correction Worksheet – report about past tense; rewrite the paragraph and correct the last tense errors
Indention and Quotations – Teaches students to indent new paragraphs and use quotation marks correctly
Indentions and Quotations: Error Correction Worksheet – Identify and correct the mistakes into the paragraph
Writing Assignment: “A Funny Story” – Students make use of the sentence and grammar patterns from Unit 2 to write an essay titled “A Funny Story”
Sample Essay: “My Favorite Place” – Introductory sample essay that students can reference later when writing their essays that are own
Sentence Pattern: Although / Even though – Introduction to “although” and “even though”, with sample sentences and practice help me write my essay exercises
Sentence Pattern: not…at all – Introduction to the sentence pattern “(not)…at all”, with sample sentences and practice exercises
Error Correction Worksheet – Identify and correct the mistakes in the paragraph
Writing Assignment: “My Favorite Place” – Students use the grammar and sentence patterns from Unit 3 to publish an essay titled “My Favorite Place”
Intermediate/Advanced Writing Lessons
Writing an official Paragraph
Topic Sentences (Introduction) – Introduction to topic sentences and their function in a paragraph that is formal
Introduction to Similes and Metaphors – Using similes and metaphors to create interesting topic sentences
Similes and Metaphors Review – Practice describing people and things using similes and metaphors
Topic Sentences (Review) – Practice writing sentences that are topic
The Body of a Paragraph (Introduction) – Introduction to the body of a paragraph therefore the information that will therein be contained
The human body of a Paragraph (Review) – Practice thinking about information to utilize into the body of a paragraph
Concluding Sentences (Introduction) – Introduction to concluding sentences and their function in a paragraph
Concluding Sentences (Review) – Practice writing sentences that are concluding
Punctuation and Conjunctions
Sentence Fragments and sentences that are complete Introduction to sentence fragments and a review exercise to train identifying them
Run-on Sentences – Worksheet to practice correcting run-on sentences
Comma Splices and Conjunctions – Worksheet to practice using conjunctions correctly to fix comma splices
Commas and Conjunctions (“and”) – Explanation of simple tips to correctly use commas with all the conjunction “and”
Semi-colons – Introduction for this often baffling piece of punctuation, with an evaluation exercise
Transitions and Connectors
Listing Things in Order – Practice listing items or events so as using words like “First”, “Next”, “After that”, “Finally”, etc.
In addition / Additionally / Moreover / Furthermore / Plus / …as well introduction that is these widely used transitions, with several sample sentences
In addition / Additionally / Moreover / Furthermore / Plus / …as well Review that is– worksheet practice writing sentences by using these transitions
However / Nevertheless / Still / Despite that / Nonetheless / Even so – Introduction to these widely used transitions, with several sample sentences
However / Nevertheless / Still / Despite that / Nonetheless / Even so– Review worksheet to practice writing sentences by using these transitions
Therefore / Consequently / As a result / Thus / For this Reason – Introduction to those commonly used transitions, with several sample sentences
Therefore / Consequently / As a result / Thus / For this Reason – Review worksheet to practice writing sentences with these transitions
Report on these Transitions and Connectors – Review worksheet to apply using all of the transition words above
More Transitions and Connectors
Although / Even though – Introduction to those commonly used transitions, with several sample sentences and review exercises
Though – Introduction to “though” and it is various uses in a sentence
Despite / In spite of – Introduction to those widely used transitions, with sample sentences
Despite / In spite of – Review worksheet to apply writing sentences with these words
Despite vs. Although – Explanation of how to make use of these transition that is similar, with several sample sentences
Despite vs. Although – Review worksheet to apply using “despite” and that is“although
Because vs. Because of – Explanation of simple tips to make use of these transition that is similar correctly, with several sample sentences
Because vs. Although – Explanation of the distinction between these two words, with several examples and an assessment exercise
As a result of vs. Despite – Worksheet to apply making use of these transitions, which may have nearly opposite meanings
Regardless of – Introduction for this commonly used transition, with several sample sentences
Regardless of / No matter – Review worksheet to apply making use of these transitions correctly, including a description of “embedded questions”.
Review of Above Transitions and Connectors – Fill in the blanks with an appropriate transition word to perform the essay